We all have rivals, real or imagined. Many of us are inclined to call those rivals terrible things. The vaguely human Cristiano Ronaldo is no different. According to excerpts from a new book by Guillem Balague, Ronaldo’s views on his chief nemesis Lionel Messi are quite harsh, at least privately. According to the book, the Real Madrid star has taken to nicknaming Messi — or anyone he sees speaking to him — as “motherfucker.” Balague implies that Ronaldo views his relationship with Messi through a competitive lens, saying Ronaldo feels obligated to be more stone-faced than Messi in public encounters. He paints Ronaldo’s interactions with Messi as being bathed in a false bravado, in an effort to prove that his isn’t intimidated* by his contemporary. In the comfort of his own locker room, it’s a different story. He and his teammates have a series of running gags at Messi’s expense.

“In that environment, Ronaldo usually compares their relationship with that between the Republic of Ireland and the United Kingdom. And the Madrid players, with their less than subtle dressing-room sense of humor, have a long list of jokes that include Messi as Ronaldo’s dog or puppet, or kept in a designer handbag belonging to the Portuguese player. And much worse.”

For his part, Balague says Messi has a very different perception of the supposed rivalry, rarely expressing anything beyond a mild annoyance over constant comparisons to Ronaldo.

“Messi admires Cristiano’s shooting and heading ability but is tired of comparisons between the two of them. He understands that Ronaldo is not comfortable about it either, and has watched without the slightest pleasure his supposed arch-enemy responding with anger to the public pestering from those who like to see them fighting.”

New York City philosopher Nasir Jones once said, “We had words because the best supposed to clash at the top,” in a tribute verse to Tupac Shakur. Truer words have never been rapped. It shouldn’t really be a surprise to anyone that Cristiano Ronaldo feels a little bit frosty towards Lionel Messi. Sometimes the traits that make you great are the same traits that make you a bit of an asshole. It’s part of that deal with the devil for once (twice in this case) in a generation talent. On the flip side, Messi being less focused on personal rivalry is no shock either. The man barely speaks. He’s a block of wood. Unmolded clay. His persona is that of someone who has a head with absolutely nothing in it that isn’t game-related. It’s his version of drive and greatness.

UPDATE: Cristiano Ronaldo has since denied making the remarks about Messi, which means there must have been people actually waiting around to see if any of this was true.